This festival was in 1982. Don Henley's song, Boys of Summer(you reference "dead head sticker in at Cadillac") was released in 1984.

"The Boys of Summer" is a song released in 1984 by Eagles vocalist and drummer Don Henley

Me and my friend came from Arizona early the first day of this 3 day concert.It was one of the best 3 days of my life.Very well organized.The sound system was loud and clear. We had a blast at the two beer gardens. The one on the side had a band one afternoon the was great! I remember how good the groups where esp. the KINKS and the GRATEFUL DEAD. We were Dead heads and seen them several times before. This show made up for the show they played at Woodstock and turned a lot of people on to the GD that hadn"t seen them before

@bottleneckbill the Clash was the 83 US Fest. Their last show with Mick Jones. They wouldn't come on until Wozniak gave a lot of money to charity. The Clash were paid $500,000 and Van Halen $1,000,000 unheard of money at the time. I basically went to the 82 one for the Dead. Hitchhiked from L.A. and got a ride all the way there with some guys from NY who were going to see Eddie Money. The concert and ambiance was great but listening to the show it wasn't epic. Not the best of 82 shows for sure.

And the GD were added at the last minute.

And to the guy who said there were 50 people before it started BS. I was up front but there were thousands. Look at the vid on Youtube and you'll maybe 50,000 or more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPzNGRJ_-cc

I was there. I believe this night Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers closed the evening. It was a long weekend of non stop quality music. I remember making my younger brother and friend get up early for this show on very few hours sleep. Tripped on an angel dust joint that was making the front of the stage for Oingo Boingo. Good times.

Three days of music, dust, and heat, and all I can remember is Phil testing the limits of the giant PA during the space. Try getting up at 8am then dosin' for a 9am show. Uncle Bill rode by us on a horse just before the band came on. I swear, just like New Years.

I recall the Clash played this festival too, and I think it was one of their last shows as we remember them. I like to read the posts about people who actually attended this! Lots of cool up and coming bands were there; it was nice somebody had the brains to include the GD!

I was 12yrs..... and had ZERO clue as to who or what the Grateful Dead were. My basic knowledge was a reference about "a Deadhead sticker on a cadillac" up to this point.
Was actually there to see the Ramones,the Police,etc.
Day 3, after a very hot, dusty 2 prior days.... my aunt says I want you to see today's opening act.... they are something special.
9:30 am.... people starting to slowly mill around, obviosly looking like zombies from the 2 previous days worth of festivities and heat.... an announcer comes out, "Good morning... how are you? Its time to settle down and spread for breakfast in bed.... with the Grateful Dead!"
The band kicks into Playin> Shakedown.... and the zombies were now wide awake.... place was rockin'!!!
I looked around and thought to myself... there must be something to this!
THE LIGHT CLICKED ON.... the energy was absorbed.... and I WAS HOOKED!!!!

Bopper, what about the feelin groovy jam of 73 and 74 china riders?

The playing is quite good but the set length and sound leave a lot to be desired. During Shakedown Brents' piano is wildly distorted as is quite painful to listen to while wearing headphones. I outta know I listened to this at work and it's a shame because the band are playing well. The mix is a bit wonky at times: Phil's there, then he's not, etc. By Minglewood tho, things have settled down and the show gets into gear. There's nothing all that special and nothing bad either, it's a good solid show held early in the morning on a really hot day.

First of all, this is quite obviously an amazing setlist. I mean... first-set PITB... that transitions into a Shakedown?!? Pretty awesome stuff, if you ask me. Not only is the setlist great, but the songs are very well-played. The first set is more exciting and "out-there" than many second sets I've heard, starting with an opening sequence that sounds just as phenominal as it looks on paper and ending with one of the best China Cat/Riders I've heard from the Brent era... if not THE best. The fun continues with the second set, which also contains some really strong playing. Other than PITB -> Shakedown -> Minglewood, I wouldn't say that there's all that much "jamming out" here, but that doesn't detract much from the show. This is really powerful and energetic stuff, as is a lot of stuff I've heard from '82. Think '71, except with Brent instead of Pigpen.

Overall, I recommend this to anyone interested in Brent-erea stuff. If you like this, you also might want to check out the performance the band did in Jamaica later this year, which is another example of the band showing up at a festival and kicking serious butt.

I was there, and had a great time in a very
unusual setting indeed.
There were easily several thousand people there
before the band even started. Given the enormous
amount of space available, it's easy to
underestimate the size of the crowd.
Right after the show, Garcia was quoted as to
how he thought they only played an average show,
due largely to getting up too early in the
morning (always a problem for the boys) and
the heat. I actually was standing coincidentally
beside the security gate at the back of the
stage before the show, and saw Jerry arrive in
a custom van with full (I seem to remember) mostly
of various women.
The general assumption immediately after the
concert was that it was lackluster, but I disagreed then and I disagree now.
Just another tape that survived long enough to
receive its fair due!

A thoroughly enjoyable performance and a quality
soundboard. This is one example of a "big" show where the band delivered. I think this is one of the better versions of "Minglewood" that I have ever heard.

Maybe not an epic, transcendental show like those we all love, but certainly alot of fun. I know I'm going to have fun blasting "Minglewood" in the car. With the windows down.

Well, I'm revising this slightly, because the last fellow's claim that there were only ~ "50" people there is a gigantic approximation. And approximation is what I mean by "~". Since I was one of those ~ "50" and can still pictue it mentally in color I should know. Yes, it is true at 9:30 A.M. there were far less than the eventual ~150,000 people, but certainly alot more than 50 !
Sort of short, yet longer than most if not all the other acts. I saw all 3 days of the US Festival and they were still one of the best.
Given the ~105°(F) heat, they played well, (Despite some MDA, unusual for me), I thought it is good but certainly not one of the best I've attended, especially at the beginning ie. Playin' in the Band -> Minglwood Blues - > Shakedown Street !

The reason Phil said that is because there were less than 50 of us spread out near the stage, on a couple dozen blankets, eating yogurt, bananas and granola. It was like being at a private Grateful Dead Party. Sure, up on the hill, there were 50,000 zonked out people who had partied till 2 and 4 am for the last two nights, and thought what the hell is this at 9:00 am. The Dead were only added to the line-up 2 weeks before the dates, when Bill Graham was brought on to take care of the mess the production had become from that Apple computer guy. Sure it was hot, but at 9:00 am, it was only about 85, and by the end of the set, about 400 dancing fans were grooving around the stage. And they would spray us with water when it got hot. My favorite concert ever! And for the rest of the day, I found they had a cold pool in the Beer Garden, with a nice ledge to sit your beer on, and a set of speakers set up so the center of the pool was the sweet spot. It was 115 degrees and the pool was clean and fresh with no chemicals because a giant water main pipe gushed fresh water into it to keep it clean. I listened to the rest of the groups in hi-fidelity right there. It was Heaven!

I love this show. its been a staple for me since about 1989 when I first got a decent sounding cassette of it.

short show..but its a good one.
my favorite part...drums > encore.
"space" is soooo out there. It sounds like they are playing backwards. perfect timing of various instruments...in chaos. just exactly perfect.
NFA kicks ass. so slow and funky.
8-29 is another one that is killer funky ...and even slower. but not SBD source has surfaced. I know its out there. I used to have a cass of that too.

These guys should have played this early more often. They sound like they got a good nights rest and were ready to crank it out at 9:00 AM.

Playin->Shakedown is wonderful. Jerry melts into Shakedown out of Playin a little too quick for me (they were just getting loosened up during the playin jam) but a noteworthy Shakedown makes up for the quick transition.

Minglewood is typically hot for this time period and the China/Rider matches up with 8/7 and 8/10. Was '82 the best year for the China/Rider transition or what? the ONLY issue here is that Rider cuts out a little early, but it's close to the end of the song anyway. Just be warned cause I was bummed the first time I was listening and it got cut.

I put this one on my MP3 player and went for a jog and ended up leaving it on there for the next three jogs. I was happy to listen to everything up until drums for three days in a row!

i went to this show just to check out the dead, after seeing REM, The Untouchables, and The English Beat the night before at the Country Club in Reseda, CA. Got up early, and drove to the show with my two buddies, both named robert. all we brought with us was a big bag of nacho cheese doritos, a can of cheese whiz and a gram of coke. needless to say, not a good combination--it was only like 108 degrees that day in the shade, which by the way didnt exist. the day started out okay before it got too hot, the dead rocked-especially the Satisfaction encore! but as the day progressed with the coke, the cheese whiz and the ruthless sun-what a colossal headache! jerry jeff walker, jimmy buffett, jackson browne not withstanding, we left during fleetwood mac. i dont know if i coulda stuck it out in the dust, mud and sun all weekend-like my buddy phil did below. it was fun, but not so fun that my head didnt feel like it would explode if we stayed any longer.

oingo, b-52's, talking heads, the police, santana, petty, fleetwood mac, and the dead for breakfast. that can't be bad. 3 1/2 stars for the show. the weekend was unbelievable.

Very solid setlist all the way through and the playin (pardon the pun) is definitely up to snuff as well...good sound, a little wavy here and there to me but not too bad. I am just really discovering fall '82 and I really like what I am hearing w/out a doubt!